WEBVTT 11 NEWS KATE AMARA WAS THE ONLY BALTIMORE T.V. REPORTER IN THE COURTROOM. KATE: ON THE SURFACE THIS SEEMED LIKE A RUN OF THE-MILL PRETRIAL HEARING BUT WHAT IT AMOUNTED TO WAS A BIT OF A BOMBSHELL. HE DID IT VOLUNTARILY. DEFENSE ATTORNEYS TOLD A JUDGE TODAY HE BEING MURDER-SUSPECT TYLER TESSIER. ACCUSED OF KILLING PREGNANT, WILDE LAKE HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER LAURA WALLEN. IT BEING A VIDEOTAPED INTERVIEW WITH POLICE. WHICH ACCORDING TO THE STATE, AMOUNTS TO A CONFESSION. THE SIT-DOWN RECORDED ON SEPTEMBER 13, 2017. THE SAME DAY LAURA WALLEN’S BODY WAS DISCOVERED IN A FIELD IN DAMASCUS. ON THE TAPE PROSECUTORS SAY TESSIER ADMITS THAT HE SHOT WALLEN ONCE IN THE HEAD, BECAUSE HE WAS AFRAID HE’D BURIED HER ALIVE. AFTER TRYING TO SUPRESS THE STATEMENT FOR MONTHS, TODAY, O THE RECORD, AND IN OPEN COURT, TESSIER’S TEAM CONCEDED IT WAS VOLUNTARILY MADE. IN EXCHANGE THE STATE AGREED NOT TO PLAY THE TAPE FOR JURORS BUT RESERVES THE RIGHT TO ARGUE IT AT TRIAL. IF TESSIER TAKES THE STAND IN HIS OWN DEFENSE AND DENIES H SAID IT. THE TRIAL IS STILL ON TRACK TO BEGIN SEPTEMBER FOURTH, THE DAY AFTER LABOR DAY. PROSECUTORS TOLD THE JUDGE IT’S EXPECTED TO LAST TWO WEE

The case against the man accused of killing pregnant high school teacher Laura Wallen last year took a big step forward Friday. Defense attorneys for Tyler Tessier said their client participated in a videotaped interview with police voluntarily. Tessier was indicted in October on one count of murder in Wallen's death.Wallen, 31, of Olney, was four months pregnant and was missing for nine days before police found her body buried in a wooded area of Damascus. She was a teacher at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia.According to the state, the police interview on Sept. 13, 2017, amounts to a confession. Wallen's body was discovered on the same day as the interview, prosecutors said. On the video, Tessier admitted that he shot Wallen once in the head because he was afraid he had buried her alive, prosecutors said. After trying to suppress the statement for months, Tessier's team conceded Friday on the record and in open court that "it was voluntarily made." In exchange, the state agreed not to play the tape for jurors, "but reserves the right to argue it at trial" if Tessier takes the stand in his own defense and denies he said it. The trial is still on track to begin Sept. 4. Prosecutors told the judge it's expected to last two weeks.

ROCKVILLE, Md. —

The case against the man accused of killing pregnant high school teacher Laura Wallen last year took a big step forward Friday.

Defense attorneys for Tyler Tessier said their client participated in a videotaped interview with police voluntarily.